Taking all your field guides in one pocket: There’s an app for that!

BCNA is compiling a list of apps that will help people identify and learn about what they see along the Colorado Front Range. Our goal is to make it easy and fun for all of us to learn more about what we see as we hike, bike and explore our natural world.

In general, the links are to a general information site about the app. Only apps for general, daytime use are included here. We have not included apps for professional level use, for photography, for the night skies, for geology or for gardening or urban forestry.

For a general introduction and overview of nature apps, see this pdf, a class presentation.

For local naturalist information on the web, please check the links at https://bcna.org/links/.

Websites are frequently updated and links to the site change or break. Should you find that a link does not take you to the correct page, you can generally find the relocated or modified page by searching for the link name that is on this webpage.

Abbreviations used: iOS for Apple operating systems; Android for android devices; $ for apps that must be purchased and are not free; NDAN for apps where No Data Access is Needed to use the app or DAN for apps where Data Access is Needed. All apps do require data access to download and install.

Birds

For detailed reviews of current birding apps, check out Boucher’s Birding Blog or Best Birding Apps for iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad and Android Review.

• ƒEach of the major bird books now has an excellent and detailed app. All are available on both iOS and Android; none are free; and none require a data connection to use the app after it is downloaded. iBird Pro, Audubon Birds Field Guide App, Sibley eGuide to Birds of North America, Peterson’s Guide to Birds of North America, and National Geographic’s Birds are all available. iBird Pro is adding packages for areas beyond North America. iOS, Android; $; NDAN
• Merlin Bird ID is an excellent app for beginner birders (it has only the more common birds) and takes you through a series of simple steps to help you identify the bird. It is very easy for children to use. The newest version also will match pictures, which does require data access. iOS, Android; free; NDAN for some functions, DAN for others
• BirdsEye Bird Finding Guide — Global Guide allows you to search by name or location, get a list of nearby spottings, and keep a life list. iOS, Android; free for limited number of birds or $ for an expanded list; NDAN for some functions, DAN for others
• BirdsEye Hotspots — Find Birding Locations Worldwide for iOS and BirdsEye for Android gives world-wide access to ebird hotspots. iOS, Android; free; DAN
• Raptor ID was developed by HawkWatch International and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. It has information, lots of pictures, videos, range maps and vocalizations for the North American raptors. iOS, Android; free; NDAN
• The Warbler Guide by Princeton University Press is a companion to Princeton’s book, The Warbler Guide, by Tom Stephenson and Scott Whittle. It had added 3D to its drawing enabling you to touch the drawing and turn it to any angle to better see what the bird looks like from the side, top, etc. iOS, Android; $; NDAN
• Larkwire is an app to learn bird songs through games designed for beginnners to advanced birders. There are two apps, one for land birds and one for water birds. iOS or a web-based app; $; NDAN for iOS, DAN for web-based
• eBird Mobile is an app where you can record your sightings while in the field and easily link them with eBird, a global online data base used by birders around the world. The data you submit is then used for scientific research, education and conservation. eBird has a detailed guide on how to use this app. iOS, Android; free; NDAN/DAN

Plants and wildflowers:

• Colorado Rocky Mountain Wildflowers by High Country apps includes 520 Colorado wildflowers. You can browse the pictures or search by characteristics. iOS, Android; $; NDAN
• Rockies AlpineFlower Finder identifies alpine flowers by color or characteristics; it also has games to help you learn the flower names and you can keep a flower list.  iOS; $; NDAN
• Alpine Wildflower Finder was developed by The Betty Ford Alpine Gardens and Gerhard Assenmacher. You may already know Gerhard Assenmacher’s superb photography from Boulder Audubon’s website. iOS, Android; free; NƒDAN
• Flora ID is a non-profit that has developed the most comprehensive wildflower app anywhere, and it goes beyond most wildflower guide books. It includes 85-96% of all known non-grasslike flowering plants that grow wild in a state or region, including annuals, perennials, shrubs, and trees. Flora ID also has multiple ways of searching. There are 29 apps available, each for a different regions. You can cache data. Android only; $; NDAN
• 2,250 Colorado Wildflowers app is part of FloraID, and focuses on the 2,250 Colorado species. You can cache data. Android only; $; NDAN
• Rash plants app can be a useful app if you are hiking Boulder County foothills trails and need a refresher on poison ivy or if you need to learn what plants to avoid elsewhere. iOS only; free; NDAN
• Colorado Wetlands App for iOS and for android phones identifies wetland plants, locates nearby wetlands, and identifies common wetland types. iOs, Android; free; NDAN

Lichens

We have not found any useful apps for lichens identification yet. However, the University of Colorado has published Field Guide to the Lichens of White Rocks (Boulder, Colorado) by Erin A. Tripp, and you can buy a copy for kindle.

Mammals

• Mammals of North America is based on the best-selling Princeton field guide to the land and marine mammals of the United States and Canada. The app includes drawing, ecological information, range maps and sound recordings (150 species). iOS, Android; $; NDAN
• Wild Colorado is a free app with photos and information about Colorado’s native amphibians, fish, birds, mammals, and reptiles. iOS, Android; free; NDAN or DAN if you want to share pictures
• iTrack Wildlife Pro has over 800 photographs of tracks plus information about sign, general notes about the animal, and comparisons to similar tracks. iOS, Android; $; NDAN
• iTrack Wildlife Basic includes tracks and signs of common mammals. iOS, Android; $; NDAN
• For younger childen, Animal Sounds! is a fun way to let them hear what each animal sounds like. iOS only; $; NDAN

The Fieldstone Guides

The Fieldstone wildlife guides have been developed by the National Audubon Society and the National Wildlife Federation. This series features expert-curated content, superb photographs and drawings, maps, and sounds. There are apps for amphibians, birds, butterflies, mammals, insects and spiders, trees, mushrooms and reptiles. Information about the apps with links to the Apple App Store for purchase. iOS;$; NDAN

Dragonflies, butterflies and phytoplankton

• Dragonfly ID by BirdsEye in collaboration with the Xerxes Fountation enables you to search by name or location, get a list of nearby spottings, and keep a life list. iOS, Android; free; NDAN
• Audubon Birds and Butterflies identification app has detailed information and photos for over 720 species of butterflies. 
• Phyto (Apple store or Google Play) is a fun little app that guides you through identification of phytoplankton by shape. It would be useful when children are looking at pond and water samples with a microscope to teach children to see the shapes of these tiny organisms. 

Reptiles

Colorado Herping. This website has photographs about the various reptiles one family has found in their travels around the state. https://www.coloradosnakes.com

Location apps

Scouting Outdoors has a good review of 8 best compass apps 2018 for IOS and Android. For professionals, there are more comprehensive and more expensive apps, such as Terrain Navigation Pro and ArcGIS Collector.

• Boulder County Trails App includes trails in the county and all cities in the county. If you have GPS as you walk, you can track your path on the map. iOS (not compatible with iOS 11), Android; $; NDAN or DAN
• Topo Maps+ requires downloading the appropriate topo maps (200 available) before you go hiking. Topo maps can be purchased individually for use. iOS only; free; GPS location will work without cell service
• Gaia GPS includes Gaia GPS and off-line topo maps that you can download to plan and track hikes for a yearly subscription fee. It does support data caching and data collection. iOS, Android; $; NDAN or DAN

Recording and sharing your observations

iNaturalist

iNaturalist was developed as a way to get people interested in nature and to encourage people to learn more about what they see when they are outdoors. iNaturalist is an app that is open to all to record pictures of what you see and discover. When you submit a photo to iNaturalist from a phone or using a desktop/laptop, you can identify the photo or iNaturalist will use data from past submissions to suggest a likely identification. iNaturalist will also record the GPS of the picture (or the general area if you choose to block recording the exact location for any reason) and the time and date. The app is available for iOS and Android, and is free.

• When you get the app, you can sign up for projects. The City and County of Boulder are working together to record all the wildlife sightings to build their database and to encourage people to look for local wildlife. To contribute to this project, sign up under projects for “Boulder County Wildlife.”
• Submit your photos, either from your phone or your desktop/laptop. If you don’t know the species, other people will help.
• iNaturalist has a tutorial on using the app.
• There may be times it is not appropriate to reveal the exact location of your observation and you will need to change the geoprivacy settings.

Seek by iNaturalist

Seek by iNaturalist is a great way to get kids really looking when they are outside. There is no registration and no user data is collected. Based on your location, you are challenged to find and photograph various organisms that have been reported to iNaturalist in that locale. The app then uses image recognition software to see if your picture matches.

Do you have favorite apps to recommend?

As you have likely realized, this page is only a start. Please contact us using the link at the bottom of the page with additional information or apps and with corrections and updates. We are focusing on the natural living world — not gardens, not night skies, not geology. Thanks!

Banner Photo © CC VanWie